


Hide or Hair

by viperscreed



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Jack tries to be a good dad, M/M, Possible Soulmate Au, Spirit Animal AU, but its hard when your bab is grown and has an actively conflicting spirit animal, havent decided yet - Freeform, shape shifter au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-13
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-10-04 08:19:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10272272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/viperscreed/pseuds/viperscreed
Summary: Most of the time people have no problems coexisting with their instincts and the world has melded to fit this wide variety of needs so when two nocturnal bros head out to watch a movie they didn't at all consider that something could go awry.Inspired by Bettyboop4w33t4's fic 'Wild Thing; You Make My Heart Sing'





	1. Chapter 1

Jack chuffed lowly, the temptation to sleep through the meeting growing ever stronger. The woman, a skittish antelope, leading the presentation even failed to trip any of his instincts which was a feat worthy of use in Bunkers & Badasses, a tragically low charisma skill required. The rhythmic taping of his fingernails was thunderous and like thunder lasted only a moment before his wrist was snatched by a much smaller hand.

“Dad, at least pretend to pay attention.” The young woman beside him seethed under her breath.

“Not my fault they’re all boring.” Jack huffed, grinning as she scowled down at her notes.

“Well, it would be over a lot faster if paid attention.”  She grumbled marking something down harshly.

“What do you think I should do princess?” He inquired and Angel let out a slow, frustrated breath but was quiet for a moment, thinking.

“I’d greenlight it but only with moderate funding, they’re really not confident it’ll work but if it does we’ll easily make our money back.” She replied, her tone confident and sure. Jack nodded slowly as if considering her words, as if he didn’t trust her intuition absolutely.

“Did ya hear that?” Jack asked aloud and the board members all jolted, the antelope nearly falling over. The CEO stood up from his chair and leisurely stretched before his gaze swept over the people looking at him. “What, do I have something on my face, get out of here.”

His lip curled but before he could snarl all of the board members, prey and predator alike, were on their feet and scrambling out of the room. The CEO’s chest swelled with pride, hands settling on his hips as he watched the last of them race from his presence. The light tapping of a pen filled the room and he turned to his daughter.

“So what else is on our to-do list today?” He inquired hoping to god it wasn’t another meeting.

“For you, nothing, I however have… two interrogations.” Angel answered tapping her pen on her clipboard. Jack’s face fell; these traitors were taking up more and more of his daughter’s time.

“Alright, what do you want for dinner?” He asked as they walked out of the board room together.

 

<><><> 

 

Yvette trudged down the hallway, her heated blanket which she sadly had to unplug to take it with her wrapped around her shoulders. Her limbs were heavy with chill and she desperately needed coffee to warm her from the inside out. She looked into the living room and hissed softly.

“Gross.” She stuck out her tongue at her roommates.

Once a month Rhys and Vaughn had a little bro-date were they treated themselves to their favorite food and a terrible movie. In Vaughn’s lap was a small container filled with raw honeycomb while Rhys had a bowl of fruit that was plump and red like a tomato but make a crisp sound as Rhys bit into them with his sharp teeth. On the screen in front of them a man yelled dramatically as he ran down a hill in a desert somewhere, a skeleton’s leg laying in the sand for no reason. Everything about it offended all of her senses.

“They’re good for you!” They responded in unison defending their treats of choice, Rhys taking a spiteful bite of his fruit.

“Still gross.” Yvette teased before slinking off into the kitchen pleased to see a pot of coffee already made.

The boys continued to munch away on their food, laughing as the movie progressed. They were seated at opposite sides of the couch leaning against their respective arms, their legs tangled on the middle seat. They were comfortable then Rhys started to prod the back of Vaughn’s knee.  A smirk pulled at his lips while Vaughn grew more irritable, his leg jerking slightly when Rhys hit a ticklish spot.

“Bro.” Vaughn’s flat tone broke a giggle out of Rhys.

“You know what we should do?” Rhys inquired not at all bothered by the meek glare he was getting. Vaughn only responded with a mild hum. “We should go see Skag?”

That got a smile from the other man. Skag was some terrible looking movie that had barely any advertising despite the big name company that was putting it out which screamed ‘trying to brush it under the rug’  and ‘we’re really embarrassed about this so if we could just release this and you ignored it that’d be great’ to these seasoned garbage connoisseurs.

“I haven’t watched any reviews for it yet.” He added to sweeten the pot. They’d go in blind and suffer together.

“Let’s do it!” Vaughn tried to hop up from his seat and stumbled to the floor, his legs still tangled with Rhys’ on the couch. The taller man pulled his legs out of the mess as he curled in on himself with laughter. He made a sharp yelp as one of his long limbs was grabbed and he was yanked off the couched and onto the floor with his friend.

Rhys turned on his side prepared to bolt before Vaughn could pin him down but was barred by a pair of legs. He followed them up to Yvette’s unimpressed face, warm coffee in hand and blanket still firmly wrapped around her shoulders.

“Why don’t you two just go before you break the coffee table again?” Yvette suggested nodding toward the duck taped on leg on their coffee table. The two men sat up sheepishly, leaning onto the couch to help them stand instead of their poor coffee table.

“Do you want to come with?” Vaughn inquired and she quickly shook her head.

“No no no, I’m going to stay home and watch a good movie.” She snickered at the huffs she received.

“What we lack in culture we make up for in durable spirits.” Rhys defended their art. Yvette just rolled her eyes.

“Sure.” She side-stepped him to flop onto the couch with a small grunt. “Bring me back some popcorn.”

Rhys and Vaughn chorused their agreement to bring her something back while they slipped on their shoes before heading out into the artificial night, bright eyed and bushy tailed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So another fic I really shouldn't be starting but here it is, I don't have much an idea for the plot yet but I really want to see if you guys can guess what they are before it's revealed ;3
> 
> Bonus points if you guess the movie they're watching!


	2. Chapter 2

The halls of Hyperion were dimmed at this hour but Rhys and Vaughn were undeterred as were the hundreds of other nocturnal individuals shuffling around. It deeply bothered Rhys however how many people he was coming shoulder to shoulder with, Vaughn was by no means a social creature but he was more grounded then the taller man.

“I think I’m going to cut through some alleys, see you at the theater?” There were plenty of narrow passageways around Hyperion mostly to make moving around easier for the maintenance crew and anyone else wasn’t technically allowed to use them but Rhys had made a habit of using them when the halls got too crowded.

“Sure just be safe bro.” Vaughn patted his shoulder before they split ways. The taller of the air disappeared down the nearest alleyway, eyes easily adjusting to the darkness. He would make it to the theater long before Vaughn did but that also meant he could get their tickets and snacks ready.

Rhys walked through two alleys without consequence so as the rules of the universe decried something had to go terribly wrong. It started with a loud crash, brooms and buckets clattered across the floor as a small door was forcefully wrenched open. A tall, thin man clad in tight black clothing that hide every discernable feature from sight barreled down the passageway with a bundle of mechanical pieces and important looking papers in his arms.  He was looking over his shoulder toward the sound of thundering boots and clicking heels that were just behind him and when he turned around it was too late for him to dodge out of the wide-eyed Rhys’ way.

Perfect.

“Here take this!” He yelled shoving the bundle into Rhys’ arms as they collided. Rhys’ hands automatically clutched everything while he sputtered in confusion.

The man’s weight, which had nearly teetered Rhys over, was immediately gone as he shifted into a kestrel.  The small bird sped away from his scapegoat with something shimmering in his talons.

“Grab him!” Rhys’ poor, confused face was drawn back down the hall. A young woman was glaring him down, her pale blue eyes angry and wild. A small militia’s worth of guards was behind her and fear coursed up Rhys’ spine. He turned to bolt, dropping everything that had been shoved into his hands.

“Phaseshift!”

There was a rush of air before Rhys lost total control of his cybernetic arm and eye. Half of his vision was filled with glitching blue lines, warnings and AWOL programs while his arm twisted up as unnaturally as its circuitry would allow. The heavy metal swung itself, the momentum twisting his body and he tripped over his feet falling to the floor.

He gasped as the edge of a guard’s leg guard dug into his back while several guards raced by, those who could shifted into birds to chase after the kestrel. Rhys’ cybernetics calmed just for his arms to be roughly yanked behind his back. The sharp click of heels made him look up.

“Take him down to the cells then go after the spy, I’ll send someone down to clean this up.” Angel instructed gesturing vaguely to the mess that littered the passageway. The guard nodded his understanding before pulling the trembling Rhys to his feet. She studied him through narrow eyes, a little confused now that she looked at him as to why the spy would trust him with these items. The man being lead away didn’t reek of deceit like the spies did.

She shook her head, it didn’t matter now, her father was on her way down to the cells and she had another spy that still needed to be interrogated.

 

<><><> 

 

Angel walked out of the supposedly high security interrogation room, the neighboring room’s door was busted open, and into the personal lab of their top scientists. She grabbed a white towel, why the lab insisted on using white when there was so many staining fluids that needed to be cleaned up she would never now, and ruined it by wiping the spy’s blood off her face.

“An electric eel maybe?”

Angel tuned in to the conversation happening across the lab. Gaige, a young woman around Angel’s age and like Angel was one of the most important people on the space station, was chatting with one of her assistants with her shirt pulled down in a very unprofessional way.

“Or something poisonous, that’s where the lines could come from?” The assistant suggested, her finger following part of the expansive scar on Gaige’s chest. The scar almost looked like it had been inflicted with by a shock bullet, the round wound surrounded by a webbing of sharp lines. It looked fresh as if it had just healed over and it would stay like that until her soul mate touched it.

“It has to be a puncture though cause there’s an exit scar on my back, you know what would be awesome, if my mate is an animal we haven’t discovered yet!” Gaige beamed excitedly letting her shirt go, the fabric covering her scar.

Angel buried her face into the towel to hide her furiously blushing face. She knew the scar had to be hers unless Gaige was right and her mate was some unidentified creature or by some chance her soul mate was one of the other five possible sirens in existence that shared the same animal she did. The little bite marks in her ankle burned as she turned away to go to the wash station. She didn’t have time for this right now, maybe in a year or so she’ll ask Gaige out for coffee.

A loud slam startled her causing her to splash water all over the counter, splattering down the front of her shirt. She grumbling under her breath, her teeth grinding together in irritation as she looked up to see her equally agitated father. Angel grabbed a second towel to dry the water from her face.

“Did they catch him?”

“Not yet and if it don’t find him soon they’re all going out an airlock!” He snarled and prowled around one of the tables, needing to pace to keep some of his anger in check. Angel balled up the towel and dropped it on the counter.

“Let’s go see if the coder knows anything.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So a more Angel centric chapter this time ;D and I finally decided on a soul mate au so I introduce you to 'mate scars'! Basically most people are born with scars that heal when their soul mates touches them in their animal form, so for example if someone had a bite mark then their mate would have to transform into their animal and lay their teeth on the scars to heal them. It ensures that the pair(or more) are ready to be mates because it requires trust to do!
> 
> Also this will hopefully this will give you some clues as to what Angel is, the placement of her scars is a hint to what Gaige is :3c


	3. Chapter 3

Rhys paced around his cell nervously waiting for someone to retrieve him. He had used his one phone call to get in contact with Vaughn, telling his friend where he was and what happened but until his name was cleared the other wouldn’t be allowed to come get him. The indifferent guard outside his cell wasn’t much help either in figuring out the current status of his situation.  He did the only thing he could and paced in circles around the small room.

The guard stood at attention and the forcefield that kept the cell closed fell causing Rhys to freeze where he stood. Footsteps came closer and Rhys backed away from the doorway, he retreated until his back hit the far wall.

“Grab him and let’s go.” A deep voice Rhys recognized all too well ordered. The guard turned around and stepped into the cell, grabbing Rhys by the arm to easily pull him out into the hallway. He didn’t even have a chance to be stunned, Angel and Jack were already walking away from him and the guard pulled him along behind them.

His heartrate threatened to break his ribs, a frantic pattering brought on by intimidating presence of his idol and the faint smell of blood hidden under soap.

 

<><><> 

 

Angel almost snorted as she looked down at Rhys, the man was too tall for the chair he was tied to causing his knees to lift off the edge. She was more curious then anything however, her suspicion that this man was innocent or as innocent as anyone can be on Helios. Her senses weren’t nearly as sharp as they were in her shifted body but if he was being dishonest she should have picked up on it.

“I’m serious, I have no idea who that guy was.” Rhys tried to defend himself again. Jack chuckled lowly and patted Angel’s shoulder.

“We’ll see about that.” Jack replied stepping back and crossing his expectantly, his chest swelling with pride as he waited for his daughter to do her thing.

Shifting was a simple enough process, many people even did it on accident but there was more fanfare when a siren did it. The air around her disrupted, her image swirled by the distortion until purple leaked into it causing her to disappear. A light glow bloomed behind the curtain of wind. Their hostage flinched as the whirlwind broke, brushing him in an ashen scent laced with something metallic.

The sharp clip of hooves was the only prelude Rhys got before he opened his eyes again. A deceptively delicate looking creature gazed back with eyes that glowed like Eridium, the light hanging in the air when she moved her head before fading away. Her small, deer-like frame shifted as Angel adjusted to her body. The scales that lined her spine were like obsidian were her fur resembled the ash from the Eridium Blight. What concerned Rhys the most however was the sleek, slightly curved horn pointed in his direction, the onyx surface broken up by veins of purple.

“So let’s try this again Rhysie, what do you know about the man that escaped?” Jack asked. Rhys was silent for a long moment looking between the CEO and his daughter.

“I-I… don’t know anything.” He insisted meekly. Jack snorted and shrugged.

“Your funeral kid.” He replied and started examining his nails, somewhat thankful that he wasn’t the one who would need to wash up after the traitor was taken care of.

But nothing happened.

Angel’s brow pinched together and she looked back at her father seemingly just as confused as he was that she hadn’t been overwhelmed with the urge to pierce the man’s heart. Of course after a lifetime of being told little fibs and white lies she had learned to control the urge, the barista at her favorite café didn’t deserve death just because he was claiming to have a good day after all. But the urge had never failed her in weeding out traitors before.

“What’s going on, this thing broken?” Jack stepped forward and flicked the side of her horn with his finger. Angel reared her head back and snorted indignantly. The CEO sighed deeply and brought a hand up to his face.

Rhys tried not to stare at his idol but between his fear and his admiration all of his instincts demanded that he did. The CEO looked so powerful, as he did in every poster and promotional video, and his gaze was dark, deep in contemplation. The clicking of angel’s cloven hooves took the place of a ticking clock as she paced along the far wall, thin tail trailing behind her.

Jack’s eyes, originally cast to the floor while he thought, snapped up to Rhys making the thinner man jump. A wicked, prideful grin spread across his face as he stepped toward the bound man and Angel stopped her pacing.

“You work for the data mining department right?” Jack asked and Rhys nodded. “Then you’re the Rhys that landed us that deal that got Dahl off our dicks?”

“Y-yes Handsome Jack sir.” Rhys confirmed, his chest swelling a little bit with the knowledge Jack had heard of his achievements.

“Then listen real close cause I have a proposition for you, how would like to do a little data mining for us to find these bastards?” Jack offered with a grin. “Of course you’re other option is the airlock.”

“I’d be more than happy to help.” Rhys agreed readily. He jolted in his seat as a large hand clamped down on his shoulder.

“Just what I wanted to hear!” Jack went on as if he had actually given Rhys another option. The ties around Rhys’ wrists went slack before tumbling to the floor. Rhys gently rubbed his flesh wrist with the cold metal of his mechanical fingers, soothing the rope burn. Angel shifted back as she walked around him to face her father.

“Are you sure about this?” She asked keeping her voice low. Jack just met her concern with his confident grin.

“Don’t worry so much princess, between the two of us we shouldn’t have any problems with him.” Angel scowled as he brushed aside her concerns but just sighed instead of arguing further, if something did go wrong she’d have a ‘I told you so’ at the ready.  Jack stepped around her to round on Rhys, startling the poor man again.

“Ready to see your new office string bean?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So side note about sirens, they are the only ones capable of being mythical creatures(Of course with a Pandora twist) I'm sure you all know what Lilith would be :3c
> 
> As always thank you for reading, your comments and kudos give me life ^^


	4. Chapter 4

Rhys should have expected something like this because of course Jack wouldn’t mean a normal office. The computer screen alone was taller than himself and the monitor was separated into several parts with the main screen edged by three smaller ones on either side. He’d have to lean forward to reach some of the buttons on the control panel it was so massive. The walls were thick and gray as if he was about to be sealed in a vault.

The old office chair creaked as Rhys sat down, his Echoeye powered on to lovingly scan the high-tech machine before him. Most of the files the came up were confidential but what he could glean from the descriptions of the mechanics of it there was enough power behind this thing to keep thirty Pandora settlements running for years. Jack stepped up beside him and the younger man stiffened.

“W-what am I looking for?” Rhys stammered trying to address him like he would his own boss. Jack huffed with frustration that made Rhys jump a bit.

“We don’t have a lot for you to go on, basically the few messages we have intercepted were because they got sloppy. They’re heavily encrypted and written in a language or code we don’t understand, each message is signed off with ‘The Liberator is Waiting’ and this symbol.” Angel explained stepping up to his other side. She lowered her comm down for him to show him a predictably cryptic image. It was the vault symbol but beneath the centered arch was a person turning into some vague beast.

“Looks like one of those Vault cults, what did they steal?” Despite their less then positive meeting Rhys found it easier to address her then her father.

“A very important and expensive piece of equipment that, should the idiot who stole it fuck up, has the power to implode an entire planet.” Jack caught Rhys off guard by answering his question though he got the feeling he wouldn’t get a clearer answer from Angel.

“Alright, I guess I should get started on cracking the code huh?” Rhys reached out and powered on the beast of a computer, his Echoeye connected to it at a freakishly quick speed. Multiple documents popped up on the various screens many of which held a language he didn’t recognize.

“I’ll send you what we’ve figured out so far and our language specialist will get into contact with you soon.” Angel told him before simply turning to leave having a lot of other things to attend to.

Jack however did not.

Rhys tried to ignore the prickling feeling clawing up his spine as his idol continued to just stand behind him. The feeling only got more intense as heavy footsteps closed in on him, Jack casually leaned his hip on the edge of the desk. Rhys eyed him nervously but Jack just regarded him with an easy grin.

“So tell me Rhysie, how confident are you that you can do this?” Jack inquired and Rhys floundered for a moment not sure how to respond.

“I’ve decoded a lot of stuff, i-it is kinda part of my job, so I’d say decently confident?” Rhys spoke quickly, smiling nervously at his idol while Jack was unperturbed by his anxiety. Jack tapped his finger on the desk as if he was considering something.

“Well if you can manage it what do you say to a little celebration?” Jack asked confidently.

“W-what?” Rhys stammered brain coming to a full stop.

“I’m asking you on a date dum-dum, if you can find these bastards for us.”  Jack clarified looking all too smug and if Rhys hadn’t been so dazed he probably would have scoffed. Rhys sat stunned by the offer, the ultimate golden carrot at the end of an ivory pole for a fanboy like him.

Vaughn would never believe this.

“I’ll d-do my best.” Rhys answered. Jack patted his shoulder as he stepped away from the console.

“Relax kid, it’s just a date.” He chuckled as he walked off.

‘Just a date’ Rhys replayed the words in his head with incredulity. There was no way Handsome Jack could think so little of his time. His trembling fingers tapped away at the holographic keys bringing up summaries of what had already been discovered, he wasn’t sure when their language expert would get in touch with him but he wanted to be ready.

 

<><><>

 

Jack strutted out in the hall thoroughly pleased with himself.

“If you wanted to motivate him you should’ve offered him something worth his time.” Angel’s voice startled him and he turned around to find his daughter leaning up against the wall, boredly scribbling something down on her clipboard.

“An evening with me is worth anyone’s time princess.” Jack placed a hand on his chest in mock offense. Angel cocked an eyebrow and placed her clipboard under her arm.

“I mean, if they have nothing better to do I guess.” She shrugged and easily dodged her father’s playful grasp.

“Alright enough out of you.” He chuckled following after her. Angel threw a mischievous smile back at him.

“But if you’re insisting on doing this I could schedule my meeting with Rhys and Maya to correlate with your photo shoot.” Angel offered and grunt softly as Jack’s heavy arm swung around her shoulders pulling her close.

“Anyone ever tell ya you’re the best wingman.” He asked and she snorted.

“So I’ve been told.” She sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Handsome Jack doesn't believe in slow burn, which is good cause neither do I!
> 
> And Angel you would't always be the wingman if you just asked Gaige out!


End file.
